Adding story bonuses to rituals

[Stalker0]

This is an idea to give rituals some more flavor and fun, but its less about the mechanics and more about the flavor (meaning it requires more DM balancing where normally I go for hard coded balance).

Here are some examples.

Comprehend Languages: If you have not spoken a single word in the last 24 hours, the casting of this ritual is free.

Discern Lies: If you tell someone an important secret truth about yourself, the ritual requires no components and you gain a +5 to the roll.

Hand of Fate: If you are willing to offer the ritual a small part of your destiny (DM can force one reroll of a d20 roll within the next week), the ritual is free.

Speak with Dead: If a loved one is involved in the ritual, the ritual gains a +10 bonus to the religion check.

 

[CapnZapp]

I like the idea, and I especially like the last one there.

Generally, I think rituals sit somewhat outside of the hard core of the rules, i.e. combat. Therefore a frivolous bonus here or there can't disturb balance much. (Think of when the party uses a scroll of a ritual well above their level, then happens to roll 20 on their skill check. Even this extreme case won't upset things too much)

I do want to express concern about that first one. While I understand the imagery, wows of silence (in any form) has always been NPC territory for me. Asking a player to stop talking is asking him to stop role-playing (except through pantomime) which is asking him to stop participating. Simply put, I would choose another "story bonus".

Cheers,

 

[Paul Strack]

I think the DM could handle this by giving the PC a small bonus (skill bonus or reduced costs) for clever RP that fits the ritual. No need to preplan them in advance.

I've largely dropped formal magic rituals from my game entirely. A ritual caster can attempt whatever they want in the form of a skill challenge. I use the rituals in the book as guide for power level, and prohibit rituals that will break the story line (sorry, but the stars are not right to teleport into the villain's castle). I prefer skill challenges to rituals, because they allow more group participation: the ranger is off using Nature to gather herbs, the warlord is using Diplomacy to get access to the perfect ritual space, etc.

Similar, the villains often use the "Ritual of Plot Advancement" to do whatever evil thing they need for the adventure to move forward. No formal rules, just whatever the needs of the story are.

 

[CapnZapp]

Two quick points.

1) I think Stalker's idea is that the bonus should not be small. The underlying idea is "you autosucceed whenever its better for the story" only as a roleplayer he can't express it quite that boldly, instead saying "you get +10"

2) Correct me if I'm wrong, but 4E already handles the case where you simply teleport into the villain's castle. (Read: it cannot be done) ?